Proclaimed in His Name
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Proclaimed in His Name
Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave some parting commands to His followers. These commands are for all of Jesus’ followers down through the ages. In Luke 24:46-47 we read,
And He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
In the verses before this, Jesus had explained how everything that was written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms regarding the Savior must be fulfilled. Because these were all fulfilled in Jesus, His followers were to now begin to preach “repentance for forgiveness of sins“.
In other words, the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies about a Savior is a sure sign that everyone needs to start paying attention to the workings of the LORD and repent of all their sins.
All these fulfilled Old Testament prophecies are supposed to open our eyes to the fact that Jesus is who He says He is — that God is almighty in fulfilling His word — and that God’s promised Judgment Day is also on its way — so that if we want to reach our heavenly home, we really do need to repent of our sins in faith that Jesus will forgive.
To repent is to confess our sinful ways and stop them for a number of reasons. A few reasons could include: 1. God has proven His love and desire to forgive our sins. 2. Our sins lead to nothing but misery, enslavement, and eternal hell. 3. Our sins hurt us and everyone around us. 4. The life of forgiveness, faith, hope, and love that Jesus wants us to lead frees us from our bondage to sin. 5. Faith in Jesus is the only way we will obtain eternal life. 6. With repentance and faith, we will finally be living in truth, which is the only worthwhile way to live. 7. Living according to lies is a senseless and unprofitable way to try and live.
This list of reasons could be much longer. The point is that unrepented sin leads to eternal misery, and truly repented sin changes our lives and leads to eternal life.
So many today only want to talk about Jesus forgiving all of our sins. But, they skip over our need for repentance. Jesus emphasized that “repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name”. Jesus does not want us to mistakenly think that we can live however we please, and think that Jesus will just automatically forgive everyone’s sins.
We need to first see the ugliness of our sins and how they surely are destroying us. If we don’t admit our sins and repent, there will not be forgiveness.
The apostles Peter and John put it in many different ways in their epistles. A few examples include:
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
1 John 3:7-9 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He i s righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 John 5:1-2 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
As we think about the depths of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, let us always have repentant hearts and remember that God is looking for changed hearts. Then we will say, “Hallelujah! Our Savior is so ready to forgive all our sins.”
Love,
Margaret
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A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and GOD of gods.
Pray for our country.
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The LORD made this day, let us rejoice and be glad in Him.
Psalm 118:24
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The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 18:30
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Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Psalm 33:1
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How blessed are those who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4
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Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13
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O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1
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Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3
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Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12
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